Typescript / Node.Js Architect

TypeScript / Node.js Architect
Location:
Denver, CO — Local candidates only. 5 day onsite required
Employment Type:
Contract 
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About the Role
We are seeking a highly experienced TypeScript/Node.js Architect with deep expertise in event driven microservices, real time data pipelines (Kafka), and cloud native application design. This role will drive the technical architecture for scalable backend systems leveraging TypeScript/Node.js, DynamoDB, Kafka, and advanced caching and performance optimization strategies.
Mandatory Screening Question:
Candidate must answer YES to the following:
“Are you able to drive the technical architecture for scalable backend systems leveraging TypeScript/Node.js, DynamoDB, Kafka, and advanced caching and performance optimization strategies?”
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Key Responsibilities
•    Architect scalable backend systems using TypeScript/Node.js and event driven patterns (Kafka, SNS/SQS, or equivalent).
•    Design and implement streaming and asynchronous processing pipelines for large scale workloads.
•    Define and enforce DynamoDB data modeling and partitioning strategies for high write workloads.
•    Establish and optimize caching layers (Redis, Elasticache, DAX, or in memory caching) for high performance APIs.
•    Perform profiling and performance tuning across CPU, memory, network, database, and I/O layers.
•    Define API contracts, message schemas (Avro/JSON), and versioning standards for inter service communication.
•    Implement observability practices including metrics, tracing, and structured logging.
•    Collaborate with DevOps on CI/CD pipelines, IaC (CloudFormation/Terraform), and autoscaling policies.
•    Mentor engineering teams on TypeScript best practices, async programming, and microservice resilience patterns (circuit breaker, retry, backoff).
•    Partner with stakeholders to evolve system architecture aligned with business growth and product roadmaps.
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Required Skills & Experience
•    7+ years of hands on engineering experience.
•    Strong expertise in TypeScript & Node.js, including async/await, streams, and worker threads.
•    Deep knowledge of Kafka architecture: partitioning, consumer groups, rebalancing, offset management, schema evolution.
•    Advanced experience with AWS DynamoDB: data modeling, secondary indexes, TTL, streams, DAX, large scale design.
•    Strong background in microservices and distributed systems.
•    Expertise with containerization and orchestration: Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Istio, Argo.
•    Experience with AWS managed services and cloud native architectures.
•    Caching frameworks: Redis, Memcached, DAX, CDN edge caching.
•    API design experience: REST, GraphQL, schema federation, gateway design.
•    Monitoring tools: Datadog, Prometheus, CloudWatch, Splunk.
•    CI/CD automation: Jenkins, GitLab, GitHub Actions.
•    Knowledge of API documentation standards: Swagger / OpenAPI.
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Deliverables
•    Create and document process flows.
•    Provide mentorship and knowledge transfer to client engineering teams.
•    Serve as primary, co author, or contributor on all assigned project deliverables.
•    Participate in data conversion and data maintenance activities.
•    Provide best practice recommendations and industry specific solutions.
•    Offer alternative and out of the box solutions when appropriate.
•    Deliver both thought leadership and hands on technical development.
•    Collaborate as an active member of the engineering team.
•    Perform additional duties as assigned.
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Work Environment
•    5 day onsite in Denver, CO.
•    Fast paced, architecture driven environment with high technical ownership.
•    Collaboration with engineering, DevOps, product, and leadership teams.